Clippings and thoughts on leadership and other passions found by Dwayne Baptist

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The title got my attention: The Lazy Way to Build Relationships. A mentor years ago made the point that he was “ambitiously lazy” — he always sought the way to be most effective in everything he did so be wouldn’t have to work any harder than he had to. The first thoughts were that the author, Jun Loayza, would rather do a lot of things and not network, yet he still is able to expand his network weekly. Jun’s secret? He doesn’t really seek to network, but create relationships. How? Here are his key steps:

Find your why. Leaders know why they are doing things and can explain that to others. Give people a reason to connect with you.

Ask Friends for introductions. When you know and can share your why, your friends will know people who could be mutually beneficial to know. Ask them. Also, check your connections’ LinkedIn accounts. If you see people who can help you, ask your connections for the introduction.

Use tools like Skype to be personal yet effective. We are busy people. Breaking up the day for out od office meetings is not always the most effective use of your time. Skype, FaceTime, or other tools, while not as good as live meetings, are a great way to balance the need for face theme with the need to be productive at the office. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t have lunch or coffee with others, but make sure Thet payoff is worth the interruption.

Make yourself available. If people can’t get hold of you, you cannot build relationships. You will need to balance access and interruption, but being available and accessible is allows you to strengthen connections into real relationships.

Readers of my blogs know that I am a big fan of gratitude. It really is “the secret sauce” that makes live savory and delicious. It is the real fuel of success that beats away fear and doubt when things get tough. Marc over at Marc and Angel Hack Life wrote a great post just in time for Easter to help us realize that we have so much to be grateful for. Here are his 6 Reasons Someone Wishes They Were You:

You are educated enough to read this.

You are reasonably healthy.

You have the freedom to choose.

You have enough wealth to live comfortably.

You have a home.

You still have a chance.

Now, you may be thinking that all six are not true for you. but if you are reading this, I guarantee you that numbers 1 and 6 are true, and because they are, you have the ability to make all the rest true. But even if only one or two are true, there are people who wish they were you because of them.

Be grateful for the many blessings you have. That gratitude, harnessed and put into action, will make your dreams come true.

If you are a fan of GTD (Getting Things Done, a methodology developed by David Allen for personal management), you know about contexts. What about using contexts to manage communication with the people you need to communicate with the most?